SINULOG 2013: Bigger, Better, Messier

PAINT. SWEAT. BOOZE.
Three things you will have on you as you wrestle your way through thousands of party goers every third Sunday of January. If there’s one local festival my friends and I can’t have without, it’s the annual Sinulog Festival held in Cebu City, the queen city of the south (and home of the best lechon)! The drill is quite simple: book cheap flights and accommodation months before to spend a weekend of festival epicness, mostly covered in other people’s sweat and fluoro poster paint. Lol, sounds nasty if I put it that way, but I kid you not: every resident should come out of their shell and experience this!

Party wise, this year was a whole lot bigger. Three million people from all over the P.I. came to party all around the clubs at IT Park, Fuente Osmena, Mango Avenue, and Baseline. Music wise, personally, I didn’t expect it to be off the charts versus last year’s Top 40 mix — RHIPSTOP at Baseline did not disappoint. Shoutout to my favorite set from DJ NixDamnP! Madness!

Some tips so you won’t die out there:

1. Get enough rest for Sunday, and head out early.
A good time would be around 2pm. Enough sleep-in time, lunch, and a few beers in to set the mood. Never too early for beer! Heh.

2. EAT SOMETHING.
Be a smart ass and don’t skip lunch. You’ll be out dancing the whole day and night, and no one wants to end up carrying you cos you passed out… out of hunger. Plus it’s never good to drink on an empty stomach anyway. Pretty basic.

3. Carry cash.
ATMs are a little out of the way of the party areas, so keep it liquid!

4. Dress down.
Like I said: there’s gonna be thousands of strangers who will, in the spirit of PIT SENYOR, come up to you with paint. Shamelessly. Or if your friends haven’t done that already. Aside from that, there’ll always be a crowd who’ll crazily spray booze everywhere, anyway. In other words, wear clothes you don’t mind being ruined. No time to feel pretty and clean in the streets, hun. It goes without saying NO HIGH HEELS puhleeeaase.

6. Prepare to be squished.
You step out into the crowd, basically there’s no turning back. I know it’s not the easiest thing to be calm & collected when there’s not an ounce of breathing space left, but HEY! It’s a festival! Make sure you have a drink in hand while you’re at it.